IRELAND STRIKER JON Walters has been ruled out of Ireland’s final two 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Wales.
A knee injury had been a concern for the Burnley attacker, with Martin O’Neill telling the press conference that he’ll be out of action for “quite a number of weeks”.
Walters has been a crucial player for Ireland in recent times, scoring the equaliser in the home tie against Austria, on top of registering several crucial goals in the side’s previous Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
Shane Long, Daryl Murphy, David McGoldrick, Sean Maguire, Scott Hogan, Aidan O’Brien and Kevin Doyle are the strikers named in Ireland’s provisional squad.
Jon will be out for quite a number of weeks,” O’Neill said today. “That’s a real blow to us.
“Harry Arter didn’t play last week. It’s a provisional squad and we’ll see how things go. Keiren Westwood has a bit of a rib problems, that’s why we brought in four goalkeepers. He might be a doubt at the moment but we’ll see how it develops.
“By the end of the week we’ll have a better idea where those players are.”
Additional reporting from Ben Blake
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